"If we had a keen vision and feeling of all ordinary human life, it would be like hearing the grass grow and the squirrel's heart beat, and we should die of that roar which lies on the other side of silence." - from George Eliot’s Middlemarch

In a moment of total nerddom mixed with Hollywood-jadedness, I was reading the Star Trek encyclopedia Memory Alpha when I realized that I've been on the stages where they filmed Star Trek TNG. It was primarily filmed at Paramount Studios in Hollywood, CA. It was at the old main studio on Melrose Ave and Gower Ave, made famous by the scene in the movie Sunset Boulevard when Gloria Swanson drives up to studio gates. That's Paramount Studios.

I was shooting NCIS: Los Angeles (playing the under-utilized, background role of office assistant) in an episode that takes place in their offices. And it was on stage 8 and 9 (adjoining) stages at Paramount where Star Trek was filmed.

To think, I hung around on the stages where Patrick Stewart used to act. While snaking at "crafty" on set, I spilled Reese's Pieces on LL Cool J's foot that day and he picked them up, totally, cool about it. But more absurdly, it was located where one of my favorite shows was filmed. Wow. I hope I get to return to Paramount some day soon as more than just background. Also, it's a true story. LL Cool J is known by all the extras to be one of the nicest guys in Hollywood.

Sometimes, behind all the organic spray tan lotion and silicon implants, Hollywood is still magical.